Productivity Tips for WFH
2020-11-16
If you’re reading this, you might be struggling to stay focused while working from home – just like us! We know your time is precious –that’s why you’re here – so let’s get to it! Here are our favorite ways to achieve more in less time.
How to Increase Productivity At Home
If your work area is messy – whether that be in your home or office – there’s a good chance your day will also be messy. No one wants to work in a dirty area or stress about clutter while trying to knock out a big project. Do yourself a favor and get a robotic vacuum equipped with all-in-one vacuuming and mopping that you can run overnight so you wake up to a spotless home or office. Plus, it’s one less thing on your to-do's, which gives you more mental space to focus on work so you can feel ready to conquer the day.
While notifications on your computer can be super helpful when you almost forget about that Zoom meeting, there is really no need to have them on your phone during the workday. Unless you’re expecting an important call, set your phone to “Do Not Disturb” to eliminate any potential distractions.
After you’ve poured your coffee and settled into your makeshift home office, tackle the most difficult task on your plate first, before the end of the day when your brain is mush. When the day is young and we aren’t burnt out from Zoom fatigue yet, take advantage of that energy and channel it into checking off your biggest “must-do” item of the day.
Whether you’re on Slack or Teams, you have the option to use statuses, which are a great way to communicate to your colleagues that you are unavailable, without having to email someone or hop on a call. Plus, it gives you peace of mind knowing your co-workers understand that you’re busy and won’t ping you with distracting messages.
When you’re in a rut and can’t find any energy to be productive, take a breath and refocus on one thing that you can do that you love about your job. Not only will it remind you of why you enjoy what you do, but it will also put you back into a solid workflow instead of sitting in zombie mode.
One tab at a time
Now we know how thrilling it can be to work with a million tabs open, but let’s get real, that’s not productive at all. If you haven’t figured it out by now, multitasking actually isn’t that efficient and you’ll get less done trying to split your brain in different directions than focusing on one project with only one tab(s) open related to that. By doing so, you’ll cut out unnecessary distractions and have a visually streamlined screen that supports your focus. Your brain will thank you and so will your computer.
Being productive isn’t a result of just one tip you used on one day, it’s also a result of setting boundaries in advance so that you don’t overwork yourself and get too burnt out to be productive, which is why we recommend limiting emails after hours.
Yes, it’s so tempting to scroll through emails when we first wake up or before we go to bed, but what good is that going to do? Are we going to get up and reply or are we just going to feel anxious about work and then ruminate about it for the rest of the day / night? For most of us, it’s the latter. Checking emails after hours just leaves us feeling like we’re working 24/7.
When we don’t set boundaries, our brain doesn’t get a chance to rest and reset, which forces us to run on low fuel. Then when we actually go to do work, we end up being less likely to get things done as efficiently as possible.
When you create your to-dos, put time on your calendar or list for mindfulness. Often the times we need it the most are when we are already panicking about a task and feel like we have no time. But if we proactively set aside time for it once day – even if it’s just for five minutes – we can reset our emotions and intentions and put any stress at rest to refocus ourselves.
All things considered, if you’re struggling to be productive, especially with everything going on right now, cut out anything unnecessary, cut yourself some slack and take things one day at a time.
